“No,” I whispered. I knew what I had to say even if the words hurt coming out. “He means nothing to me. He is merely a weapon.”

“Is that so?” He shouted something in the Unseelie language. “Let’s see how good of a weapon he really is then, shall we?”

Another dozen or so Unseelie knights appeared out of nowhere, descending on Everest in the blink of an eye. There was a whole war happening around us, the rest of my Coven-mates thick in battle with Unseelies and fallen angels, yet my eyes only saw him. No one was going to his aid. No one could. We were all fighting for our lives out here. I watched in horror as Everest fought one on like twenty. No one was that good. Within seconds they were overpowering him, moving in too close.

Sharp, hot pain pierced through my spine. My back arched and my feet left the ground. The pain grew stronger, like he’d gripped my bones in his hand. A scream ripped up my throat, but I clenched my teeth to keep it in. Pressure wrapped around my body, squeezing me tight. I inhaled through my nose as my body felt like it was going to break apart. My legs gave out and I crashed to the stone on my knees, yet my body was too numb to feel the pain.

The Prince looked down at me with narrowed yellow cat eyes. He pressed his palm to my chest. My back arched like my body was being sucked into his hand. OH GODS. He’s a siphon! I realized too late what he was doing. My hands and feet were cold and tingly. A soft red glow lit up his palm and fingers. His eyes widened. He reached down and grabbed my hands, lifting them up to get a better look at the black lines that covered both of my arms all the way down to my fingers. The backs of my hands had the crystal heart of the soulmate glyph that shimmered a deep red.

He narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Everest. My gaze followed, praying I hadn’t just betrayed us. Praying his siphoning only brought my glyph out. But no. Everest’s soulmate glyph was on bold display in the short sleeve black V-neck T-shirt he wore. His arms and hands looked exactly like mine. The black lines stretched up his neck to his jaw and I knew without needing a mirror mine did too. He turned to slam a few of the knights with magic and we both spotted the red crystal heart in the middle of his chest.

“Ah, soulmates. This is getting better and better.” He gripped my throat again and lifted me to my feet, using his fingers in my jaw to force me to watch my soulmate. “Good little, witchling. Now watch him die. Kill the Seelie scum!”

“NO!” I screamed.